


Another World

by Izzu



Series: Decade Prequel-Sequel Project [7]
Category: Kamen Rider Blade, Kamen Rider Decade, Kamen Rider Den-O, Kamen Rider Kiva, Tokusatsu
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-04-06
Updated: 2012-02-02
Packaged: 2017-11-08 03:04:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/438430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izzu/pseuds/Izzu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post series. Finally Tsukasa started on another journey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Encore♬ Meeting again

Everyone in the living room turned around as Natsumi appeared, out of breath. Yuusuke frowned as Natsumi looked a bit too out of sorts.

"What is it, Natsumelon?" asked Kaito almost casually.

"Tsukasa! He's gone!"

Yuusuke rose. "Eh? You don't suppose..."

Natsumi looked so worried. "And these few days he had been so "

Kaito hastily pulled her away. "Don't think so far! You must be over-thinking this. You're making me nervous!" he said as Natsumi's grandfather came over to calm them.

"Now, now... let's not all panic. Tsukasa-kun might not be in danger at all. Perhaps the three of you should go look for him."

Natsumi glanced between Kaito and Yuusuke before nodding. Within moments, the three of them scrambled out of the studio in search for their friend...

xxx

Nago Megumi glanced around the café as she saw the young man come in. The young man looked at her in surprise.

"Welcome to the café, do you want to order anything?"

"Ah, no. Umm... I'm not here to eat or drink anything. I'm looking for someone. Miss... do you know of anyone named Kurenai Wataru here?"

Megumi's eyes widened before she started to exclaim in surprise. Tsukasa thought that perhaps he had done something wrong, to warrant that kind of reaction. That perhaps, he had missed something when he had wished to open a path into Kurenai Wataru's Kiva world. People normally do not come to a café to look for people. He hastily apologized before Megumi stopped him.

"Don't go, I was a bit startled earlier. Yes, we do know Wataru-kun. Is there anything wrong with him?"

Tsukasa waved his arm towards her. "No, it's nothing like that. It's just… this place was a bit new to me, and I just had a feeling that I should go look for him here. I was a bit unsure actually…"

Megumi smiled. "Well, Wataru-kun haven't come to the shop today but I might as well show you to his house." Megumi turned her attention towards the bar counter. "Dear, I'll be out for a moment, I'm taking this kid to see Wataru."

Nago Keisuke jumped in the middle of using the coffee maker. "Ah, y-yes. Send my regards to Wataru as well."

Megumi giggled. "Oh, Dear… we've been married for almost a year already. Get used to me calling you fondly now!"

Nago's face turned beet red at the statement. But before he could raise an argument, Megumi quickly dragged Tsukasa out of the café.

xxx

Tsukasa stared at her worriedly as she waved his concerns away. "Don't worry about my husband. I just felt like teasing him once a while. He's still a bit too stiff as a person. That might work well when he was being Ixa, but honestly… he needed to act more casual around people."

Tsukasa gaped at her in surprise. "Eh? Your husband was Kamen Rider Ixa?"

Megumi just shrugged. "Well, most of the time anyway. In the past, there have been a number of people who have used it. There was my mother's friend, Jiro, Wataru's dad… Nago and during one of those rare times, me. Then again nowadays, things have been calm enough around here ever since recently. A weird thing actually, strange creatures appearing that was not like Fangires… and some other Fangires going wild. It was troublesome too, I heard... _elsewhere_. _How did those people we've met last time fared, I wonder? Those Taros... I hope they were well..._ "

Tsukasa suddenly turned towards her in alarm. "Eh? What did you just say?"

Megumi just gasped as if she suddenly remembered something. "Oops! I've just started talking nonsense! Don't mind me!" said Megumi hastily as Tsukasa looked at her warily.

"Ah... okay."

Megumi heaved a sigh of relief. "Good. It's a bit troublesome, the things happening recently... _I guess I needed to talk that out with someone_."

Tsukasa just shrugged at her nervously as he followed her into a small housing area. He frowned as he realized the place was slightly too familiar to him, he almost had to bite his lips to stop himself from crying out the moment they reached the Kurenai household.

"This… was?"

Megumi turned around as she nodded to him. "Yeah, kinda spooky… isn't it? You'll get used to it, don't worry…" she said before taking out a key to open the door.

"Eh? We just go in like that?" Tsukasa asked in alarm as Megumi grinned at him.

"Don't worry… Wataru's definitely inside. And he gave me a key some time ago anyway. It's all right…"

xxx

Wataru just laughed as Megumi explained to him what happened. It baffled Tsukasa to see this side of Wataru. Before this, the young man had looked to him as a bit cold and mysterious. But now, he just seemed… normal.

"Don't worry," Wataru said again to Tsukasa. "Some time ago I told her that if someone should ask to look for me, she should take them here. I was expecting you."

"You did?" Tsukasa asked as he watched Wataru place a plate of omurice on the table for a much older lady sitting before the small table nearby.

Wataru smiled as he saw him looking at her. "This is my mother," he said casually.

Megumi returned from the kitchen and sat beside Maya before staring at Wataru. "Where's Shizuka?"

He just shrugged. "Still at school, she said she would come here much later,"

Tsukasa kept his silence as he looked around the house. It was definitely similar, yet different as well. When he had been in little Wataru's house, the place had been so ill-cared. Very different from this one, this one had felt very homely... like how the Hikari studio felt to him nowadays. He walked upstairs again as he took a closer look towards a display case nearby. He gasped aloud.

Wataru leaned over him as he smiled. "That's my father. This violin was his, made by him with my mother. His name was—"

"Kurenai Otoya." Tsukasa slowly said. "I've met him before... in the Nega World..."

Wataru gave a soft sigh. "Oh, you mean that other him. Is he well?"

Tsukasa stared at him in surprise. "Ah, I-I don't know—"

"Hmm... then never mind."

"Wataru? Since you happened to be up there, could you play your father's song for me?" A woman's voice came from downstairs as Tsukasa was told later; belonged to Wataru's mother, Maya. Tsukasa turned to look in amusement at Wataru, who started to blush slightly.

"Eh? _That_ song? But I didn't even manage to do his first composition well enough! Playing that song now..."

Megumi's voice echoed soon after that towards them. "Ah, we won't mind. It was still nice to hear you play it."

Wataru glanced towards Tsukasa helplessly before shrugging. "Very well..."

xxx

"Amazing."

Wataru glanced back towards him. "Huh? Me? No... my father would have played it even better. He's a—"

"—genius, I get it. It sounded like the Nega person and your father were very similar to each other."

Wataru shrugged. "Maybe, but my father was only a normal human compared to the one in that Nega world. And my father was not that evil. A bit silly maybe... but I don't think you came to see me to hear about my father."

Tsukasa snorted. "Indeed. Wataru-san... you seemed a lot more different from what I used to remember you by, it's just... a bit awkward to me. And for quite some time, I've had some question. Not just about you and your other comrades—that I always felt to be different from the ones I've met during my journeys—but about my own existence. Am I... supposed to live after fulfilling my destiny?"

Wataru chuckled. "Of course. But the rest of us were not meant to interfere, though it turned out your comrades found a way to revive you... didn't they?"

He smiled weakly. “Truth be told, I don't truly hate you. You have your own music inside of you. That's why... I'm glad that your friends managed to bring you back.”

Tsukasa was quiet for a moment before nodding. Wataru sighed. "And for now, I would like to ask for your forgiveness in return, Tsukasa. If there was anything that we did or have said in the past; that have been a bit too hurtful to you to hear or bear."

"Eh?"

Wataru rolled his eyes at him. "We _needed_ to have to provoke you to that extent, you know? It was the only way that we could have done it. If you have not been fighting with all your heart against all of us, there wouldn't have been any creation after all that destruction."

"Really? Everything that you've said and done was all so that—"

"Ne, Tsukasa. Have you heard it? My father used to say that in everyone's heart, there are beautiful music in them. Even among Fangires if you cared enough to hear. It was what had drawn him to my mother, even though she was a Fangire. A Queen, even. His last words had been to remind me to protect that music."

Wataru turned towards him before smiling. "I think you can save those other questions, until another time when you meet my other comrades. You wanted to meet them as well, didn't you? So for now, it should be okay that I answered one of those questions."

Tsukasa blinked. "Err... I think so, I guess."

Wataru smiled again. "Hnn, then I guess we should be heading back to your place soon. Your friends must have been worried."

"Eh... no, they won't actually be that worried, really..."

Wataru stared at him amused. "Really, are you sure about that?" he said before suddenly they were greeted by a very high pitched voice.

"Waaaaaaaaaaataaaaaaaaaaaru-saaaaaaaaamaaaaaaaaaaa!" came the cry as Wataru felt something hit his head from behind. He laughed as Kivaara flew down properly towards his open palm.

"Oh, hello there... Kivaara. I thought you've forgotten us," he said casually as his words were repeated by two other voices that had suddenly came out of nowhere. Wataru snorted.

"Kivat... Tatsulot! Took you guys long enough to pop out!" he exclaimed before turning towards Kivat the third. "I suppose your father not coming over?"

The small bat chuckled. "Papa felt it necessary to be beside Taiga at all times. He did send his regard though..." said the bat again before flying towards his sister. "Oi, are you forgetting your own family now, Kivaara?"

"I didn't," said the smaller white bat silkily before flying towards Tsukasa. "I just got attached towards Tsukasa-tachi. It's hard to say goodbye after being together for so long..."

Kivaara started circling Tsukasa's head before bopping his nose hard enough. "Idiot Tsukasa, don't you know how worried Natsumi-chan have been? You should have told me where you went, I could have just show you where Wataru-sama lives!"

Tsukasa grinned nervously. "Ah, that part never crossed my mind. Err, what did you mean... Natsumi—"

Tsukasa didn't even manage to finish his sentence as Wataru saw a shadow sneaked from behind Tsukasa and delivered her final blow. He looked down in amusement as Tsukasa rolled around in pained laughter.

Natsumi smiled in satisfaction before noticing Wataru. "Eh, you are—!"

Wataru bowed to her as Yuusuke and Kaito finally reached them. He glanced towards all of them. "I guess that makes it everyone here, I'll take my leave then." He turned towards Natsumi again. "I guess I should say, please continue to take care of Kivaara for us."

Kivat immediately made a pirouette and a mid-air salute towards her. "I would like to say the exact courtesy as well, from us... the family of Kivats. Please take care of my dear sister."

Natsumi nodded slowly towards Kivat. "Yes, I will."

Wataru continued taking his leave before patting lightly on Tsukasa's shoulder. The four of them kept their silence as they watched the young man leave.

"Tsukasa..." Yuusuke started to say as Tsukasa picked himself up from the pavement.

"Wasn't that—"

"Kurenai Wataru? Yeah, he's was that other Kiva. We're in his world right now, didn't you realize it?"

Kaito frowned. "He seems... nice?" he said as Tsukasa laughed.

"Of course! Since everything is fine now."

Natsumi struck him on the head. "Silly! Don't act as if this was just another normal trip. We've been worrying."

"Haha, sorry about that. Well, we might as well do a bit of sightseeing considering we're already here..." said Tsukasa as he dragged his three friends back towards home.

While everyone started chatting happily again, Tsukasa glanced around slightly. Well, perhaps this would be a new purpose for him in life. Aside from learning a bit more of those other Kamen Riders, he would be looking for those answers that he still kept on searching... one at a time. It should be a journey worth looking forward for. Tsukasa thought of the last word Wataru had spoken to him before leaving.

_"I'll be looking forward to your next visit. Feel free to come anytime."_

Tsukasa snorted.  
 __  
I'll come again to visit here, that's for certain. See you again, Kurenai Wataru.


	2. Interlude♬ A Forgotten Thought

"Ah!"

Yuusuke glanced towards him as Tsukasa covered his face with his hands. "That guy... he must have done that on purpose!"

"What on purpose?" asked Daiki as he placed his weight on top of Tsukasa so casually. Tsukasa rolled his eyes at him over the gesture. It seemed that lately, Daiki had been getting quite open with his intention of being close with him. The guy even insisted for Tsukasa to call him by his first name!

Tsukasa sighed. "It's nothing. It's just that I had only remembered now about something that I had wanted to ask Kurenai Wataru. That sneaky guy smoothly changed the topic and divert my attention from asking him the things I've been meaning to ask him. Though, I had to admit... it would be fun to travel to the Eight Worlds and meet his other comrades in person and getting to know them—but argh!"

Daiki continued grinding Tsukasa's back as he shrugged. "Then what was that you wanted to ask him?"

Tsukasa lowered his gaze towards the floor. "Didn't you and Natsumikan said it before? That time after I have _died_ , you guys said that you've met Wataru again. And you said that he said..." Tsukasa swallowed hesitantly, "... that I... I had no story. I wanted... I wanted to ask him what he meant by that."

Tsukasa felt Daiki started to tighten his hold around his neck. His eyes swerved towards the kitchen as he heard Natsumi nearly drop some plates that she had been washing. He turned around as he noticed Yuusuke's and Daiki's expression turned grim. He laughed nervously.

"What're you guys worrying about? I'm not thinking about depressing stuff—" Tsukasa looked away. "I'm just wondering, what did that meant. Had my world never existed, that it was an illusion? Then what about Sayo, my parents... everyone that I used to know, if there were any. Were all that just... lies? Or could they still existed, even without me?"

Tsukasa felt a hard smack at the back of his head as he looked up to see Daiki's irritated face. "What part of that talk was not depressing to you? Seriously, I'd take my word back on that guy!"

"Kurenai Wataru was not at fault! Despite what he said, he's really a decent guy!" Tsukasa snapped back.

Yuusuke grinned. "Still, it just shows that Kaito also cared about Tsukasa... right?"

Daiki immediately stopped running his hand over Tsukasa's head. "Say what? No, who would care about this _stupid, idiot_... who didn't even manage to recover some very _important,_ memories!" Tsukasa groaned as Daiki kept poking his head everytime he emphasized certain words. He sighed again.

Right at that moment, Kivaara flew down towards his palm. "I hope you don't keep it in your heart, Tsukasa-kun. There are certain things... even Wataru-sama would find it hard to talk about."

Tsukasa smiled. "Yeah, I figured." _After all, even if he hadn't exactly said it... he did mention that 'my comrades found a way to revive me'_ , Tsukasa thought to himself as he recalled the conversation. Then, did that mean they actually anticipated something like that to happen? That... not only had they risked they're own lives in order to protect their own worlds as well as the other Riders', they even thought as far as... a method to even save _him?_ How could they... how could they put so much trust... into someone they should have despised... someone like him?

Tsukasa thought about Narutaki, whom even until now he did not know of his true intentions. Kivaara mentioned that she had only made use of him occassionally in the past when it suited her own aims, she haven't bothered to involve herself with the man more than needed. So whoever Narutaki was, or where he came from... he won't even know. Still, unlike those eight Kamen Riders... he disliked Narutaki more.

Compared to the things Narutaki said or did, it was even more hurtful than what Wataru and the others could have done. Wataru didn't really need to apologise, honestly.

In comparison, to think that those eight would have gone that far to save a stranger like him, who even ended up losing his own memories along the way—Tsukasa would not be able to exactly explain how he was feeling right now. Ha, perhaps it was even impossible to do that.

"Tsukasa-kun... Tsukasa-kun? Chu!"

Tsukasa touched his cheek before staring at Kivaara, not noticing the look the other three people around him had given. The white bat fluttered wildly.

"As I was saying, Wataru-sama would be able understand your feelings very well. There was once a time when he had thought that perhaps he should not have existed, but Otoya-sama told him that everything was meant to be. Even when he knew that his life would forfeit much sooner, he would not have changed it for anything. Perhaps Wataru-sama diverted you from asking your questions because he did not want Tsukasa to worry about it. I think, he also believes that Tsukasa still have some place that you belonged."

Tsukasa snorted. "Lately you've been talking too much, Kivaara. But thank you."

If that small bat was even capable of blushing, he wouldn't have believed his eyes. Natsumi knelt closer as she cupped Kivaara to her side.

"Are you homesick, Kivaara-chan? This _is_ your true world, isn't it?" she asked as Kivaara giggled.

"Perhaps. It's been a while since I talked about everyone at home, and I can't seem to stop. Even then, I wouldn't mind staying here. Wataru-sama had my brother, Taiga-sama had my father with him. Megumi-san don't really need me to serve her nowadays since Nago-sama could take the job by himself, so I really don't have any other purposes left here. Even my future nephew had someone that he would serve. That's why, I would be glad to continue serving Natsumi-chan, even if that means that we would continue travelling between the worlds."

"Well, sorry about that!" said Tsukasa.

Natsumi smiled regardless, as she noticed the shadow had lifted from Tsukasa. Even if he haven't admitted it, he was being cheered back out of his gloom. All of them turned as Natsumi's grandfather returned home, carrying a number of things.

"What's that?" Natsumi asked as Eijiro placed a flask on top of the table. The old man chuckled.

"It's what Master had insisted. He said that we shouldn't miss the chance to try his coffee. The coffee he makes can even satisfy a Wolfen's sense of taste! I even end up stocking on the coffee beans..."

Tsukasa stared at the old man in disbelief. _Wolfen?_

"Really? I need to try this!" Daiki started to say as Tsukasa noticed him pulling out a cup that doesn't seem to have belonged to him originally. He snorted in amusement, listening to them sighing happily to themselves over how good the coffee had tasted. 

Perhaps it would be fine if he took his time during this journey...

… he could always ask Kivaara whenever he wanted to know more about Kurenai Wataru's world.

"On the other hand, Tsukasa... did you realise? While this world was the world of the Original Kiva... it's _also_ the world where the Original Den-O lived. Plus... we've been here before, remember?"

Everyone started nodding as if Kivaara's explanations was just the usual thing they've heard before hastily turning towards her.

"Eeeeeh?!"

Seeing their reactions, Kivaara just giggled to herself softly.


	3. Junction ~ The other Rider

Tsukasa walked out of the house and stretched his body out. He sighed as he looked around him.

"Still the same world. Why haven't I noticed it before? Could it be because this time the studio ended up popping out at a different district than before this?" he wondered aloud as he took a stroll along the road. He paused a bit before changing his mind about asking either Natsumi or Yuusuke to go out with him. If they wanted to go out, they shouldn't have needed him to prod them at it. Take a look at Kaito, even if nobody asked him he's already went off by himself. Hopefully he wasn't off for some mischief again. He did seemed to be up to something after hearing what Kivaara had said the other day.

Tsukasa looked up towards all the scenery around him.

Amazing. To think that this world was the only one that he visited prior, to be the exact one belonging to one of the Original Riders. As well as being the same one that Kurenai Wataru lived in. Why haven't they clashed path with each other before when he arrived here for the first time? Then again... usually whenever he arrived to a new world, he always automatically _knew_ what world he was in. Why haven't he notice this before? Moreover, why haven't he realised this _way_ before?

Then again, this world's order... with any slight changes in the events of the past could already triggered a different outcome of a reality, it did not need his interference to have caused a creation of another alternate world. Was that why he haven't noticed it? Could it be, the way this world reacted to the disturbance Decade had created in the past... was different than the other worlds? Why was that? Because in a way... was there a similarity to this world, with the world he should have come from?

"You looked like you're holding the whole world onto that small shoulder you have there."

Tsukasa tensed as he turned around to find a young man watching him from across the road.

"So what? And what did you mean my shoulder was small? Yours ain't bigger as well!"

The man just laughed suddenly at him, though Tsukasa felt that the laugh was slightly more forced than natural amusement. He sensed that so easily that it irritated him. _Why_ _the guy had to force a laughter that badly?_ , Tsukasa fumed as the man glanced towards him.

The man whistled. "You looked like you're fine now. Guess all that work was worth it after all."

Tsukasa blinked at him. _Work? What?_

The man shrugged at him. "Care to join me for a cup of coffee? You looked like you're free."

"Aah, I might as well. Eh, why are you suddenly taking me out?" Tsukasa asked as the man grinned.

"I might as well greet you. I heard you met Kurenai already earlier... didn't you? Well, since you happened to be passing here today, I thought I'd take you around. I didn't have much to do nowadays anyhow and kid's practically told me not to work myself too much. Kinda unfair, considering he gets so busy nowadays... that Nogami!"

Tsukasa stared at him so hard he'd almost screwed his eyes. "Eh? Nogami? You mean... Nogami Ryoutaro? And you also knew Kurenai Wataru?"

The man chuckled. "Of course I knew them! Then again, I don't think you remembered me... right? The only time I actually got close enough to you was during that time when I'm helping Kabuto and the others to distract those other DaiShocker troops." Tsukasa held his breath as the man cocked his head to the side. "Though, honestly... I didn't do much."

Tsukasa frowned at him. "Who are you... really?"

The man shrugged. "I'm Sakurai Yuuto, and let me tell you this. Today, I'm consi—derately free so you better appreciate it that I'm spending my time with you."

Not sure when did it happened but Tsukasa's jaw dropped a bit at that unexpected intro. He hastily followed the man as Yuuto led him towards the shop area.

xxx

"Milk Dipper?"

Yuuto shrugged. "It's a nice place for a cup of coffee, and Nogami's sister was the one managing it. We should be able to have a nice quiet talk." he said as he dragged Tsukasa in.

Inside, Tsukasa noticed that the cafe was just a small one. It looked more like a small library rather than a cafe, and much less a library than a small coffee house. Guess this was what one could call a book cafe... huh? Even then... these other decorations, these constellations on the ceilings...

"Pretty... huh?" Tsukasa turned towards Sakurai suddenly. "Even if it wasn't real stars it was still as amazing. Even if keeping these decorations might be a bit painful for her, she still refused to take it down. Airi... was really strong."

Tsukasa frowned at him. "Airi?" he asked as an older woman walked to their table and placed a cup of coffee in front of Sakurai.

"It's the usual... isn't it?" she asked before placing another cup for Tsukasa. "An acquaintance?"

Sakurai nodded as the woman smiled at him before excusing herself. He sighed.

"That's Airi. Isn't she nice?"

Tsukasa blinked as he turned to look at Nogami Airi again. Strange. It felt as if there was something important just happened in front of him, but he could not figure it out. Sakurai chuckled before sipping on his coffee. Tsukasa stared at him in amusement as Sakurai made a slight frown.

"Occasionally you wondered... if it was possible to restore things back to the way it used to be. Sometimes you just can't and you try to compromise on certain things." Sakurai turned towards him before giving a weak smile. "Don't push yourself too hard. I understand some of the things that you did in the past, was not something you could avoid happening. We won't put all the blame on you... so you shouldn't really worry about it."

Tsukasa blinked at him. _What... was he talking about?_

Sakurai raised his cup towards him in a mock toast. "You know, even without your interference on the rest of the worlds—a lot of weird things would still happen. You can't really predict that. Espescially with this world where changes in the past could affect things. Like how Nogami and Kohana having a child-like appearances."

"Oh, I heard about that before. Nogami Kotarou was a bit miffed at me about that, because of what happened before..."

Sakurai shrugged. "Well, it _was_ his grandfather you're messing with. I'd be pissed as well if anything else happen to this world's time after everything I've sacrificed to protect it. Even now, it would still be tricky to try fixing those situation. Tampering with time is serious business. I still had to worry about that problem." He turned towards Tsukasa.

"Isn't it troublesome? This world where Imagins can travel into the past and tamper with the order of things." He shrugged towards Tsukasa. "I guess your ability to cross worlds was as troublesome as well. Don't you think?"

Tsukasa looked at him strangely as Sakurai suddenly smiled. "That aside, you must have been worried about your own powers, right? Because of that power of yours, the fate of many worlds were tied to its respective Kamen Riders. You must have worried about that when you died. Because by rights, if Kamen Rider Decade should perish... the world of Decade should suffer that same fate. Don't you agree?"

Tsukasa gasped. This man... did he notice the things that have been troubling him? He bit his lips before nodding his head.

Sakurai sighed. "I wonder... does your original world, worked similarly like ours? But that can't be right."

"Eh?"

The man gave him a meaningful look. "The way your friends brought you back after you supposedly died, wasn't that the same as how this world worked? In this world, whenever something in the past was abruptly changed... once we stopped the culprit that caused the change, the changed time would restore itself to its proper setting. That was possible, as long as the memories of those original times continued to exist."

"As long as memories... _exist_?" said Tsukasa slowly to himself. Come to think, wasn't that what actually happened? He had returned... because all of those Riders from the Alternate Rider worlds remembered him. Because even if he had nothing or no one else with him to keep his existence remaining, those people remembered him. They brought him back.

So did that mean, with him returning to existence... his world, his family... could those still exist? Obviously his parents would—should—still be dead, even if his world still exists. But his sister... Sayo, she should still be around, isn't it? Somewhere. He would not care about those other relatives that might still be around but Sayo. Just Sayo...

The only thing he was worried about his own 'world', was his sister. Did he... still continued to be Sayo's brother?

"I'm not really sure actually. Your world might still behave differently than here. Your world might be no more... or it might still exist. You can't really tell these days."

Sakurai turned his glance towards him. "But what I'm sure, right now... the many worlds would not start to converge anymore. You might as well enjoy your trip through the worlds."

Tsukasa started to open his mouth to ask him something before changing his mind. He slowly stand and excused himself, before thanking him for the coffee...

xxx

"Yuuto's being nice today... good, good!"

Yuuto immediately turned towards Deneb before jumping onto the Imagin and wrestled the life out of him.

"What're you taking about... Deneb?"

Deneb hastily waved his hands in defeat. "But Yuuto! Didn't you said all that... because you wanted to cheer him up?"

Yuuto slapped Deneb's head very hard. "Idiot! That's because he was making a pathetic face!"

xxx

Natsumi turned towards Tsukasa as he and Yuusuke were idly talking about something in the papers. He seemed to be a bit more relaxed than this morning though she wondered what could have been the reason. She turned around as she noticed someone coming in.

She walked towards the front door as Kaito entered, acting as if nothing was amiss. Natsumi cocked her head at him as he took a seat on the chair nearby.

Natsumi glanced out of the house to see if there was anything of interest outside. She frowned as she thought she heard a familiar sound. The sound of a Denliner passing by.

"Maa... I might have imagined it!" she said aloud before going back in.

Back inside, Natsumi started to notice things again. If the other day Tsukasa had been a slightly distracted, this time... the one having the faraway look was Kaito. And she was hoping that this time, if they really are going to travel the many worlds once again—they could do it with cheerful thoughts. But it seemed it could not be helped with a lot of issues remained unresolved with Tsukasa.

Natsumi sighed. Ah, Kaito aside... she might be able to do something about Tsukasa.

Natsumi started marching towards Tsukasa as the latter looked up towards her warily.

"Oi, Tsukasa-kun! Cheer up a bit, won't you?"

Tsukasa frowned at her. "W-what? I AM cheered—aah!"

Natsumi smiled as Tsukasa started rolling on the floor laughing because of her special technique. Now, that was punishment for not being cheerful and not taking her out to see the places around...

She glanced towards Kaito as he seemed to be in a daze. She sighed.

She had been hoping that the journey they took this time would be a bit more cheerful than last time. Well, she could still try making that happen.


	4. Singularity ~ Returning Back in Time

" _We needed to have to provoke you to that extent..."  
_  
" _If you have not been fighting with all your heart against all of us... there wouldn't have been any creation after all that destruction..."  
_  
" _...as long as the memories... continued to exist..."  
_  
Tsukasa took out his camera out before taking a look at it closely.

Memories...

How many times have that word affected his life all these times?

Ever since he could remember, ever since their parents have died; all he ever did was create memories. If not for himself, it was for Sayo. Even when he had left home, that was for creating more memories. So that once he returned, with all the many pictures he could take using his camera... he could show these _memories_ to Sayo in hopes that it could give her courage to face the world.

He never thought memories could affect his life this much.

When he had lost his memories, he had gone around taking pictures using his cameras. With thoughts that as long as he could capture anything through his lenses, perhaps he could capture a piece of the world's memories. That perhaps, if he was even able to capture any bit of picture and being able to do it very clearly; the world could accept him. If he could not remember anything but the world remembered him, perhaps he could be able find the place where he belonged.

He could not believe it was those very memories that had saved and maintained his existence in this world.

xxx

Natsumi shook her head as she stormed towards Tsukasa before dragging him out of the photo shop. Tsukasa shouted at her as he pulled his arm from her grip.

"What's wrong with you, Natsumikan?"

Natsumi made a face at him. "I thought you already said you'd stop brooding anymore! But you still do that, so I'm dragging you out!"

"All right, all right!" said Tsukasa before pausing. He frowned as he stared at the backdrop hung at the studio. Right now, the picture on that backdrop changed again. Strange...

The other day when he had encountered Kurenai Wataru, the scenery in the backdrop had changed—reflecting a scenery of one part of the city with one building's tower turning into Castle Doran and looking as if it was about to fly away. Soon after that—peculiar as it was—right after Kivaara mentioned that Den-O existed in the same world as theirs, the Castle Doran's part of the backdrop disappeared and was replaced with the DenLiner.

Despite that, the studio had remained at the same spot. That day when it happened... he ended up meeting Sakurai Yuuto. Who was in truth, Kamen Rider Zeronos. It only struck him later as to the identity of that man.

Yet now, despite the place in that backdrop still remained unchanging—for the third time, the minor detail of the picture was changed. This time, the design on the DenLiner looked a bit different. Should that mean anything to him?

Natsumi started tugging his arm again impatiently. "Come on Tsukasa, we're going out!"

Tsukasa nodded absent-mindedly as his attention remained transfixed on the backdrop. Just what... that supposed to mean? Natsumi almost dragged him out of the studio as Tsukasa stared at his feet. He recalled Sakurai's words to him the other day.

His power to cross dimensions. Even now he hadn't truly understand the power that he had in him. While the disaster of worlds collapsing had already been averted, how could he be so sure that he would not start another?

He bit his lips as he stepped out of the studio.

xxx

"Mou... Tsukasa! Why can't you just drop whatever's bothering you all these times? That disaster about worlds converging and destroying each other, that one's already over! Why should you keep moping about it again?" Natsumi puffed out before wrapping her arms around herself.

"And I thought things finally started looking up after you suggested for all of us to continue on travelling across worlds!"

"I'm not moping!" exclaimed Tsukasa. "But... if you were me, don't _you_ want to know?"

Natsumi turned her glance towards him before cocking her head.

"All those troubles happened because of me, yet for sake of the many worlds— _and me—_ they had risked their own existences in order to set things right again. Even though there were no such guarantees that it might work."

Tsukasa bit his lips before looking up towards Natsumi. "I wanted to know. I wanted to know _them!_ Throughout the last journey I—we've met many other Kamen Riders aside from me. But... I never got to know _them. Yet they knew me._ Natsumikan, if you were me... don't you want to know them?"

Tsukasa let out a long sigh. "To know... what kind of people they were. I've only been able to meet them for a very short time... even then, I really thought they were great people, even when they treated me as an enemy last time. They risked so much to protect the world they came from. In a way, they were a bit different than the ones we've met before." He turned towards Natsumi. "I just thought... before I think up of other places to see, for the other journeys that I would take—I might perhaps, _try_ to find _them_ first. You'd understand... right? Natsumikan?"

Natsumi sighed. Come to think, all these time... Tsukasa had only been fighting partly to find his world, recovering his lost memories... and fulfilling the path that he was meant to take. He was not really focused about wanting to _protect_ any particular world. Could it be... Tsukasa wanted to know of that part the other Rider have that he did not?

On the other hand... seeing Tsukasa like this annoyed her.

Without warning, Natsumi started to poke the side of Tsukasa's neck. Tsukasa stared at her in horror as he started to laugh...

"Watch o-u-t! I can't stop! Eeeeek!"

Suddenly a loud cry interrupted them as a young man on bicycle crashed onto Tsukasa. Tsukasa continued laughing as both of them rolled down the road.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... eh? Why are you laughing? Aren't you in pain?" asked the befuddled young man as he helped Tsukasa up. Natsumi hastily apologized. Almost as if summoned, another person rushed down towards the other guy as he asked about his friend.

"Seriously... your bad lucks are really incurable!"

The young man started glaring towards his friend. "Well, not like I could help it! My luck was _always_ this bad!"

Tsukasa looked up as he thought one of the voices sounded familiar. He gave a loud cry as he recognized the other guy.

"Sakurai Yuuto?"

Yuuto immediately turned towards Tsukasa as he stared at him in confusion.

"Eh? Do I know you?"

Tsukasa blinked at him in surprise as Yuuto turned his attention towards his friend.

"Let's go. No point wasting time here..."

Tsukasa stared at the two as both of them started to walk away. Natsumi started to poke him around as he wondered what was the matter with them. Tsukasa frowned. He had met that Sakurai Yuuto just a few days ago. How was it possible for the guy not recognizing him already?

"Tsukasa... did you know them before this?" Natsumi started to ask as Tsukasa suddenly got onto his feet before chasing after the two.

xxx

"Honestly... what's the point of you asking me to tag along with you? Normally you could do this job fine by yourself!" said Yuuto as Ryoutaro waved his hand at him.

"Ah no... nee-chan asked me to buy some new books for the shop. But I thought I wanted to look for some new books about stars as well... but I don't know what good titles to get." Ryoutaro turned towards Yuuto. "Yuuto... you certainly knows what kind of nice books to get, help me... please?"

Yuuto stared long at Ryoutaro. "I thought Airi should have told you what kind of books to get?"

Ryoutaro grinned sheepishly at him. "Arara... I got caught..."

Yuuto rolled his eyes at him, before grabbing him. "Nogami! What're you planning to do?" he exclaimed as Ryoutaro flailed his arms about.

"B-but! Lately you started to not visit the café so often! And nee-chan had started to remember Sakurai-san ever since she got out of the hospital—"

Yuuto suddenly turned sombre before releasing his hold on Ryoutaro. "Ah, she was... huh? I guess... good for her."

Ryoutaro frowned. "Yuuto?"

Yuuto shook his head as he turned around. "W-well, I better find you some good books to get... seeing we're already here—"

Ryoutaro hastily grabbed Yuuto's sleeves before he started to walk away. Yuuto gave him a glance as Ryoutaro shrugged.

"T-there's... another thing as well. Yuuto! I-if...there's another incident involving Imagins again... I'd rather... you left all that to me. That incident with Negataros was one thing, but I don't want you to have to change into Zeronos again if possible! I should be able to handle everything now anyway. I don't really mind it... and Momotaros-tachi would always help me, so you don't have to change into Zeronos aga—"

Yuuto just shrugged. "What're you talking about? About that, you don't need to worry yourself about it. My matters, I'll handle it myself," he said before darting off to another corner of the bookshop.

Ryoutaro sighed to himself before leaning on the shelf behind him.

"...what a cold fellow. You might as well don't bother with that kinda guy..."

Ryoutaro turned around towards the voice as he frowned. "It's not like that! Yuuto—eh? Aren't you... earlier?"

Natsumi nervously smiled at him as she roughly pulled Tsukasa to mind his manners to him. Ryoutaro cocked his head at them in confusion.

xxx

"Sorry you had to see that, even though... why are you guys following us?" asked Ryoutaro as Natsumi started elbowing Tsukasa roughly.

"It's nothing..." Tsukasa started to say, "... I just thought your friend was someone I've met earlier but he doesn't seemed to recognize me. So I was curious. On the other hand, why are you worried about your friend? What does it have to do with the Imagins?"

Ryoutaro gave a cry before gathering himself hastily. "W-wha... how did you know about Imagin? And how did you know Yuuto?"

Tsukasa shrugged. "Well... I have my reasons but back to my question, why are you so worried about Sakurai Yuuto?"

Ryoutaro stared at them warily for a moment before sighing. "It's a long story anyway. I just don't want anything else happening to Yuuto." He glanced towards Tsukasa before continuing. "And considering you knew about Imagins and you didn't seemed surprised when you overheard us, I'd assume you know about Zeronos?"

Tsukasa nodded.

Ryoutaro cocked his head to the sides again. "Though I wonder how...", he said before glancing at them. "Yuuto's situation was a bit complicated and he can't always change into Zeronos all the time. I guess... you can say that I'm worried about him. Even though he said he had a lot of good luck..."

"Luck?" Tsukasa asked as Ryoutaro explained.

"Didn't I crash into you earlier? I always had those kinds of bad luck. People might say that it's too ridiculous to be true..." Ryoutaro grinned sheepishly. "But even when I'm weak and have bad luck, that was no reason to not do anything. I wished I could help Yuuto a bit more... or at least not burden him with having to help me out whenever it seemed I cannot handle the Imagin. It should be fine now after all!" Ryoutaro suddenly checked on his watch before exclaiming loudly.

"Waa—ahh! Yuuto might start looking for me now! Excuse me, nice to meet you too... but I gotta go!" Ryoutaro said as he turned to leave. Tsukasa hastily grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Wait!" he exclaimed in alarm. "W-wha... what's your name?" Tsukasa started to ask.

Ryoutaro looked at him blankly before smiling. "My name's Nogami Ryoutaro. Pleased to meet you two..." he said before running off. Before managing to go so far, Tsukasa and Natsumi stared in disbelief at his back as Ryoutaro stepped on a several marbles that happened to roll on the floor and collapsed on the pavement.

xxx

Natsumi leaned her head to one side. "Tsukasa...? Do you think... just now... that person...?"

Tsukasa blinked in wonder. "Could that really be... Nogami Ryotaro? The same one?"

Natsumi turned to him, frowning. "But that can't be! Wasn't the one we know was..."

Tsukasa shook his head. "No, that other time they did explain that Nogami's child appearance was not his true appearance. Could we have somehow... travelled back in time?" He bit his lips.

"So... that was Nogami's true appearance before this, huh?"

He had his suspicions after all, not just after hearing him talking to Sakurai about Zeronos and Imagins... but also as he seemed to him to be somewhat familiar looking. He couldn't believe that his instinct had been correct...

" _I always had those kinds of bad luck..."  
_  
Suddenly he wondered, if _that_ time... when he had rampaged around to fulfil his destiny as the Destroyer of Worlds—Nogami had been there. Possessed by Momotaros, obviously... but he wondered if he was there as well. What would Nogami think of him at that time? When they had met during the Oni incident, Nogami did not seemed to react badly towards him for being the reason he was in that child form. Only his grandson did.

So, to Nogami Ryoutaro... could he have just treated the fact his own body being turned into a child's as another of his awful bad luck? Wonder... if there was anything he could do to help Nogami restore things back to the way it used to be.

" _Truth be told, I don't truly hate you. You have your own music inside of you. That's why... I'm glad that your friends manage to bring you back."  
_  
Tsukasa felt a sudden lump inside his throat.

Kurenai Wataru... Nogami Ryoutaro, it seemed there was still another side of them that he never knew. Wonder if that was the same with the others...

Honestly, despite how much he wanted to meet these other Kamen Riders—a part of him did feel scared that he might be treated with enmity. He could not forget how Kenzaki had treated him badly that time when they've met after all.

But perhaps, he should still face this fear and learn more about the others that came before him. It might turn out that they might not have hated him as much as he thought they were. It might turned out to be good for him...

Natsumi started to dab his face with a handkerchief before Tsukasa turned his head towards her, annoyed.

"Natsumikan... what's that for?"

"You looked like you're about to cry..."

Tsukasa blinked as a drop of tear landed on his cheek. He snorted uncomfortably. This was so not like himself. He grabbed Natsumi's arm  
.  
"Come on... let's go to an amusement park. Since we're here already, we might as well enjoyed ourselves."

Natsumi smiled as both of them started walking away towards the bus stop to find their way around.


	5. Confrontation ~ To the next world

Natsumi stepped out of the amusement park feeling refreshed. She stretched her arms wide before pulling on Tsukasa's arm before continuing to sight-see.   
  
"Ah! This felt so nice!" exclaimed Natsumi as she started stretching her arms out. She turned towards Tsukasa before smiling. "It's been a while since we've been to outings like these... don't you think, Tsukasa?"   
  
Tsukasa awkwardly nodded to her as Natsumi whistled. "Maa... with the whole avoiding the disaster journey we had before, I guess it can't be helped. We can't actually go sightseeing in that kinda situation after all..."   
  
"Hmm... so now that all that was over, think it's a good time to go out dating... then?"   
  
Tsukasa and Natsumi turned towards the voice as Daiki sneered at them. He sighed.   
  
"Seriously I envy the two of you... you guys can be so carefree, now that things seemed to go your way."   
  
Tsukasa snarled at him. "What's the problem with you, Kaito? Do you still have some issues with me?"   
  
"Yes, I still do!" Daiki shouted back, suddenly incensed. "It's because you're still so clueless and didn't remember anything else from your past. Yes, I have an issue with you!"   
  
Tsukasa grabbed Daiki roughly. "So then, why haven't you left already? You could always go on your own separate journey, so why DON'T you?"   
  
Daiki pushed him away just as roughly. "I would if I could, IDIOT!" Tsukasa blinked as Daiki's reaction was unexpected. He turned back towards the direction of the studio as Tsukasa and Natsumi followed him back.   
  
xxx   
  
"Unh... why on earth I ended up helping out with the groceries?" moaned Yuusuke as he lugged the bag of groceries onto the table. Kivaara flew down to his face and pecked his cheek.   
  
"Ara... don't mind it, Yuusuke," the little bat said silkily. "In the end all of these would be consumed by you and the others. Don't be such a spoiled child, Yuusuke!"   
  
From the kitchen, Eijirou poked his head out towards them before chuckling softly. Yuusuke groaned again.   
  
"Honestly why am I the only one? Natsumi-chan and Tsukasa even... went out dating by themselves! I want to go sightseeing too!"   
  
Kivaara bobbed herself against Yuusuke's head out of annoyance. "Don't be a spoilsport! Natsumi-chan needed to get her own time off. Don't get jealous!"   
  
"I'm not jealous!" Yuusuke started to say before there was a commotion at the living room. Both of them got out to see what's happening as Natsumi, Tsukasa and Daiki entered the studio.   
  
Daiki pushed Tsukasa away as the latter grabbed him in the middle of confrontation.   
  
"Just lay it off, can you? Until the time you actually remember the rest of your past memories, then you'll have the rights to pick a fight with me!"   
  
"Kaitou-kun..." Natsumi started to say as she turned to look at Daiki. A part of her wanted to reach out to him, seeing him looking so pained. Something... must have troubled Daiki lately to make him so troubled. Yet...   
  
She turned towards Tsukasa as both men continued to argue. Even now, despite that time when they have arrived on his original world—despite the events that happened after they reached the Rider War world, there was still... a lot of things that Tsukasa could not remember about his past life. In particular, the memories and events that happened to Tsukasa before she first found him injured at the side of the road.   
  
Occasionally, she had thought that it would have been nice if Tsukasa could recover the rest of his missing memories. Partly so that he—and the rest of them—could find out what really happened in the past that had caused the many worlds and different dimensions to start converging and destroying each other to become one. She had thought that if that part of the past was known, maybe... Tsukasa could have been able to be more at ease with himself and his abilities to cross into different dimensions.   
  
But watching over him ever since the last Rider war, she started to accept that they should not force Tsukasa to try recover all of his memories so fast. Tricky things they were... memories. Some things that you might want to remember but forgot, and the things you rather forget be remembered. It was something that you could not control. She knew that deep inside, Tsukasa was really trying his best to recover all of his memories. That was why, even when Tsukasa did not manage to remember anything else; she did not want to put a stress on him.   
  
If only she could tell this to Daiki. She did not... do it in the end, since Tsukasa might not like it if she did. Tsukasa was a bit edgy about his own image after all. He liked it to appear strong.   
  
Tsukasa suddenly gasped as Natsumi looked up towards him. He had been standing before the studio backdrop, and slowly backing away from it. She stared at him curiously before noticing that the picture on the backdrop was changing.   
  
xxx   
  
Tsukasa bit his lips as he recognized the scenery. A scene of a forest at the edge of a cliff. There were two figures facing each other inside the backdrop. He frowned.   
  
"Blade... and Black Joker."   
  
He saw that Joker's form before yet he knew that this figure inside this picture was not the same one. And he knew that Blade inside the picture, was not the one he met at the world of Blade he went before. This was not the world he had arrived to before. It was the other one, his destination after this was that world. Kenzaki Kazuma's.   
  
He knew that one day he would have to meet that man again... yet he never thought it would be so soon. Of the many names that popped up into his head revolving the identities of the Riders of the Original Worlds, more than Kurenai Wataru—he was more afraid of meeting Kenzaki again.   
  
He could not forget it after all, how hostile that man was to him ever since they first met. While he already got used to all that with Narutaki instigating many of the Alternate World's Kamen Riders against him—to hate him and fight him—he could not help but feel Kenzaki's hostilities towards him was because of other reasons. And that reason... might be related to that past he had forgotten. As much as he wanted to learn of his past, a part of him was afraid of that...   
  
Almost immediately, Tsukasa felt his legs turning into mush...   
  
"Tsukasa!" Daiki exclaimed as he caught him from falling. He looked at him worriedly. "Oi! You all right?"   
  
Tsukasa shakily nodded his head towards him.   
  
"The world... of the Original Blade."   
  
xxx   
  
Tsukasa opened the door of the studio as he walked out into a new place. This time the studio was located at a countryside. Not many buildings could be seen around the area, the nearest town or city must be a bit of a distance from here. But he could feel it, the place where he would be able to find the people he needed to meet—it was near. The trick now would be if he could gather enough courage to walk out and meet up with those people.   
  
It seemed that his journey would not lack of its share of obstacles... after all.


	6. Aggression ~ False Impression

Tsukasa took a long breath as he tried to will himself some courage before entering the café. Suddenly, someone slapped him at the back. He turned around angrily. Kaito grinned.  
  
"Nervous?"  
  
Tsukasa glared at him. Natsumi and Yuusuke hastily pulled them apart to stop them from starting another fight. He snarled.  
  
"Who said I was ever slightly even a bit nervous? Don't get too far with your assumption! Kaito!"  
  
Daiki groaned aloud. "It's Daiki! Don't tell me because of that argument we had before, you stopped calling me by my first name!"  
  
Tsukasa started grabbing onto Daiki. "You! Annoying thief idiot, treasure no-brain hunter! Like hell I'd ever behave so decent and familiar to you!" he said as the two started quarrelling again.  
  
"Oi, the two over there! If you guys not going to enter this café, you better leave this place!" a man shouted as both of them stopped and turned towards the man. Natsumi hastily apologised to the man before dragging the others inside.  
  
xxx  
  
"Sorry to bother you... Tachibana-san," said Haruka, the owner of the Jacaranda café as the man named Tachibana shrugged.  
  
"It's nothing much. Since we're going to be around for a while, I might as well help out. They were starting to make quite a commotion out there."  
  
Natsumi started apologizing again before launching the Laughing Pressure Point attack on both Tsukasa and Daiki. "I'm sorry for the trouble! Really really sorry for earlier..."  
  
The older woman just smiled. "Don't worry about that. Not like it was a lot of trouble..."  
  
A young teen brought their drinks to their table before staring at the still-laughing Tsukasa and Daiki.  
  
"Really pathetic... you two," she said.  
  
Haruka turned around towards the young girl before giving her a stern look. "Amane! Don't be rude. They're still our customers,"  
  
Amane pouted, before scooting towards Tachibana's table. "Heh! As if I wanted their money!"  
  
Another lady just shook her head at the girl before smiling. "That won't do, Amane-chan. The café won't go anywhere if you start picking your customers."  
  
Amane pouted again. "But they're even worse that Kotarou! Getting pushed over like that. Even Mutsuki-san wasn't that bad!"  
  
"Hoi!" cried Tsukasa and Daiki as another person groaned.  
  
"Honestly Amane-chan... cut that out already! Removing the -san from my name! How long would you keep doing that, I'm not so useless now anyway..."  
  
Amane stuck her tongue at him before another person entered the café. She gasped.  
  
"Hajime-san! Finally you're back!" cried the girl as she ran towards the man. Hajime smiled at her weakly as Amane started fussing over him. He nodded his head towards Tachibana and his friends in greeting before turning towards Tsukasa's table.  
  
Tsukasa frowned as he realised the name sounded familiar to him.  _Hajime? Come to think... that name...!_ He stared at the man as curiously. If he recalled correctly, that person in the other Blade world who had a similar name with this one; had been Chalice. Could it be...!  
  
Hajime put aside his things on the counter before walking up towards him.  
  
"... Aren't you...  _Decade_ ? What are you doing here?" he asked before scowling. Tsukasa gasped.  
  
"You? How did—?"  
  
Tachibana suddenly turned around before getting up.  
  
"Decade? Don't tell me... this guy was  _that_ Decade? Hajime?"  
  
Hajime ignored the question as he focused his attention on Tsukasa. "Don't tell me... you're looking for Kenzaki?"  
  
Tachibana's eyes widened before pulling Hajime aside.  
  
"You know where Kenzaki is? Is he still here?"  
  
Tsukasa looked up towards him as Hajime turned towards Tachibana. "Yes, I knew. He hasn't gone far yet ever since he returned. He—"

Hajime froze before slowly turning his head towards outside. Suddenly Tsukasa noticed that the man started to wear a saddened look on his face. The emotion he sensed coming from the man was something he could not understand. What... why suddenly...?  
  
Hajime stared down towards Tsukasa. "Apparently he also knew that you would come here as well. You... if I'm not mistaken, your name is Tsukasa." He cocked his head towards outside.  
  
"Go. Kenzaki's waiting for you outside."  
  
Tsukasa gave him a confused look before running out of the café without hesitation. Natsumi, Daiki and Yuusuke started to rise from their table as Hajime blocked their path to stop them. He cast them a stern glare.  
  
"Don't interfere. Aside from the necessary interaction, I do not want any of you to interrupt their meeting."  
  
"But!" Natsumi started to say as the lady friend of Tachibana patted her shoulders. Tachibana smiled at them.  
  
"Don't worry about your friend. I don't think Kenzaki would harm him without any valid reason."  
  
The three glanced at each other before returning hesitantly towards their table.  
  
xxx  
  
Tachibana watched the faint figure of Tsukasa catching up towards Kenzaki wordlessly. He smiled weakly when he noticed Kenzaki stopping to give him his regards before walking away. He turned towards Hajime.

"Are you okay with this? It had been a long time since you last see him. That other time when you looked for him, I don't think both of you had any chance to catch up with each other."  
  
Hajime turned around towards him.  
  
"It's alright. Besides, it's not safe for any two Undeads to be near each other. Especially if both of them are Jokers. Kenzaki wouldn't have allowed that either if I did go after him." He shrugged before smiling weakly. "Even if the world's order had been restored, even if there's still Club's Category King and Queen unsealed; the Battle Fight is still continuing. Despite the Battle Fight now remained to be at a stalemate, there was no guarantee that the situation would not change."  
  
Tachibana sighed. "I guess so..." he said as his other two companions also nodded their heads.  
  
Natsumi raised her hand suddenly. "Wait a minute... what did you mean— _Two..._ Undeads? Then... Tsukasa—!" she asked as Yuusuke and Daiki immediately took out their belts. Tachibana immediately stepped in front of Hajime as Kotarou got up with his empty milk bottles in his hand in defence gesture. The lady who introduces herself as Hirose Shiori, cocked her head at them before cracking her fist.  
  
"Like I said earlier, you  _don't need to worry._  While we might not treat any of you as our enemy, we will not allow you to lay any harm to our  _friends_."  
  
Natsumi blinked before noticing Amane giving them a wary look.  
  
xxx  
  
Tsukasa glanced around him before turning towards Kenzaki.  
  
"So... why are we here?"  
  
Kenzaki gave him an amused look before sauntering to the side. "No reason. I just cannot return to that place. Not anymore. Since you're here already we might as well meet up, so I had to bring you somewhere else at least."  
  
Tsukasa glared at him warily. "That's it? After you tried to have me killed before, now you're being laid-back about it? You don't have any complaint on me?"  
  
Kenzaki shrugged. "Well, you finally did what you're supposed to do. Even when what you've done was a bit different than what we expected you to do. But I guess, this was a good outcome as well. I can't complain about things when I also gained some benefits from it. My provocation had yield the outcome I wanted already, there was no need to do that anymore seeing all of that is already over."  
  
Tsukasa groaned loudly. "Ah! I had it! I don't understand you! Last time you told me I did something wrong and now you said differently. Now tell me straight!"  
  
Kenzaki chuckled. "Yeah, isn't this the reason you looked for me? Kadoya Tsukasa?"  
  
Tsukasa rolled his eyes at him. "You bet I am! Even though I didn't really plan to come to this world so soon. But now that I'm here, I demand you to explain yourself properly! What did I do wrong last time? And what was so wrong about making those other Riders my comrades?"  
  
Kenzaki laughed again. "That's what good about you, Tsukasa- _kun._ You're one easy person to provoke. But I fear the answer you're looking for was not as complicated as you thought it was." Tsukasa frowned at him. He explained. "He said it before, didn't he? Wataru told you that you were the destroyer of Kamen Riders. You had the ability to destroy everything. From the very beginning, you should have just destroyed every Rider world you have passed through. You're partially at fault at causing the worlds to start converging after all."  
  
Tsukasa bit his lips as Kenzaki continued. "But I guess you're not that bad, you did in the end  _saved_ everyone. Even if you act on it initially based on a wrong assumption." He sighed. Kenzaki turned around towards Tsukasa. "Since everything was over already... we might as well start anew."  
  
Tsukasa stared at him warily as Kenzaki held out his hand towards him.


	7. Call - Revelation and Reunion

"Kenzaki... had always been a kind and selfless person. Even when at first, he wasn't as strong as he was now. He used to be easily shaken, when he thought that Tachibana-san had betrayed the BOARD or when he thought that his body could be damaged if he continued using the Rouse system. Despite that, there was always one thing about him that remained unwavering; that was his desire to protect everyone in danger."   
  
"Since you see, Kenzaki's parents had died in a fire when he was small. Because of that, he vowed to protect everyone even at the cost of his own."   
  
Shiori smiled as she turned towards Natsumi. "That was why, you should trust him. We do... still. Even if it had been a long time since all of us—his friends—have met him. Because we knew that even now, Kenzaki continued to fight to protect everyone. There must be a reason behind his every actions, thus you should have faith in him not to harm your friend. That was just not the Kenzaki I knew after all."   
  
Tachibana shrugged. "Kenzaki was that naïve after all. Even if there was someone whose existence might lead to disaster—if he considered that person as an important friend, he'd do everything he could to save them."   
  
Daiki looked at them unconvinced. "But the first time we met Kenzaki, he was nothing like you described! Tsukasa—He got hurt pretty bad!"   
  
Yuusuke hastily spoke up. "But what did you guys said earlier..." he said before turning his attention towards the stairways leading to the basement, where Hajime had gone to earlier. "Two Undeads? Joker? Was Kenzaki-san an Undead? How can an Undead be a Rider?"   
  
Tachibana exchanged glances with both Shiori and Kotarou. He shrugged.   
  
"Well... Kenzaki's originally was a normal human. To save the world... as well as an  _important person_ , he relinquished his own humanity..."   
  
xxx   
  
Kenzaki gave Tsukasa a sideways glance.   
  
"You haven't been paying attention all these times, have you? At least, not until my arrival it seemed."   
  
Tsukasa frowned. "What do you mean?"   
  
Kenzaki shrugged. "When your journey across the world started after that day, you were meant to  _do something_  to save your own world. And  _her_ world as well. That female companion of yours that was meant to become Kamen Rider Kivaara. That part at least, you seemed to follow correctly. It was what comes  _after_  that, which you have misinterpreted."   
  
"What did you mean? Isn't  _saving_  the world means resolving the conflicts of the many worlds I've gone through?" Tsukasa asked as Kenzaki shook his head.   
  
"That may be true for others, but it was not when applied to you. Your power was different, Tsukasa... you had the power to destroy Riders as well as the creatures residing in each of their worlds. You noticed, didn't you? In many of the worlds you passed through, you could easily defeat many of the non-human creatures in those worlds just by using Decade's power alone. Whereas for the other Riders, for them to fight creatures that didn't originate from their own worlds—that might take them a bit more effort than they would have normally."   
  
Kenzaki glanced towards Tsukasa, as he played idly with a small, carefully wrapped box in his hand.   
  
"For you, Tsukasa... in order for you to save  _anything—_ you need to  _destroy everything_ . That was the irony of your existence. There was no avoiding that fate."   
  
Tsukasa hung his head low. As he had thought. It was true that he had been reminded constantly about him being a destroyer by many people. There was barely any moment that he was not. Even then... with how things had worked out now...!   
  
"Problem started with you losing your memories. So instead of just having to destroy the worlds you passed through to save Natsumi's and your world, you needed to recover the memories of the Riders and restore the powers that used to reside inside those cards of yours. But after that, you should have destroyed those other Riders and moved on. That might be underhanded or despicable but hey... everywhere, sacrifices are always necessary to achieve something," Kenzaki cast him a knowing look before sighing. "You're such a softie for not destroying those Riders you met after getting to know them and taking their powers from them."   
  
"Of course, while that could have made saving the Original Rider worlds and the other worlds much faster—at the expense of the alternate ones— _that_ , would have made your  _story_  a lot shorter and uninteresting. So, while I don't particularly  _liked_  the way things have end up to... I had to accept it as it is. My comrades and I ended up having to improvise our approach and force you to fight. The fact that some of the Alternate Riders that had been destroyed  _not_ in your hands have been giving us problems after all."   
  
Tsukasa eyed the man warily.   
  
"You... don't really like me, don't you?"   
  
Kenzaki glanced at him. "Well, that's pretty obvious... isn't it? And all of us had a pretty good reason for that. Right after all of my comrades and myself gathered, we've been shown of the things that you've did in the past. Either by travelling back across time or dimensions, we have seen how your actions of forcibly entering our worlds affecting the worlds' stability and causing creations of some other parallel worlds. If that was not enough to make us wary of you, I don't know what else would. Yet, regardless of that... we  _cannot destroy you. Yet._  Since the only person who could have set things right again, was the very one who started the whole mess.  **You** ."   
  
Tsukasa looked away ruefully. That was true. Even if that part of his memory was lost to him. So even if he could not remember what he did that caused everything to happen the way it had, he still needed to fix it. And even now after he had... prevented the bad outcome from happening, he still needed to keep himself on check as to not let it repeat.   
  
"But you know, a part of me was a bit thankful."   
  
Tsukasa looked up to him in confusion as Kenzaki kept staring towards the sky. The man sighed.   
"Because of the worlds strange phenomena, I ended up going to other worlds apart from my own to try to keep them safe. I ended up seeing an outcome of reality of what could have happened should I haven't followed my own instinct. As I thought,  _my way of concluding the Battle Fight_  was the best one." Kenzaki leered towards Tsukasa. "That aside, I was thankful that you  _did_  restore the order of the worlds. While now they were all properly connected unlike before, at least this world and the others are safe again. Thank you."   
  
Tsukasa held his breath in surprise as Kenzaki suddenly smiled to him. The man took out an envelope from his coat pocket before giving it as well as the small box of present to Tsukasa.    
  
"Give those two things to Hajime and Amane-chan. It was so belated but better be late than sorry."   
  
Tsukasa stared at him puzzled as Kenzaki started to turn back. He grinned.   
  
"Come on, it started to get a bit late."   
  
xxx   
  
"In this world... Joker  _existed_ ? And that man Kenzaki was also one?" Yuusuke gasped in surprise as Kotarou looked at him curiously.   
  
"Is there something wrong about that?" he asked as Natsumi explained.   
  
"Well... in the past, we've been to another Blade world..."   
  
"And in that world, the Joker card only existed when the man who worked with Paradoxa Undead combined all the card decks power into one. The man used that card to become Joker himself," Yuusuke added.   
  
Tachibana, Shiori and Kotarou stared at them with surprise. Kotarou suddenly shivered.   
  
"Eeek! There's actually people who wants to become Joker! I don't get that."   
  
The bell rang as another customer entered the café. Tachibana took a glance as he noticed it was Mutsuki.   
  
"Ah, Mutsuki. Took you so long, come over here!"   
  
"Mutsuki?"   
  
Tachibana and Mutsuki turned their attention abruptly towards Yuusuke.   
  
"What is it?" the older man asked. Yuusuke shook his head hastily before explaining.   
  
"It's nothing. It's just... in the other Blade world, there were also with similar names there. Though their surnames were different. Over there those people are—" Yuusuke paused before looking up towards Tachibana and Mutsuki. "Could it be... you guys are also—?"   
  
Tachibana eyed them with amusement. "Kamen Riders? Yes, finally you guys realized it?"   
  
Mutsuki rapidly glanced between Tachibana and Yuusuke as he frowned. "Is there something I'm missing? What's this talk about another world?" he asked as Kotarou pulled him to his side to explain things. Shiori whistled.   
  
"Hmmm! That was interesting. There was another world like ours out there with people similar to us here. I wonder what that was like."   
  
Natsumi hastily waved his arm around. "No, no, no! It's not  _that_  interesting. You guys are totally different in personality and appearance!"   
  
Tachibana started to laugh at them. "You guys are a funny lot," he said before something caught his attention. He immediately grabbed on Mutsuki's arm.   
  
"Mutsuki! Hurry and call Hajime back up here!"   
  
The younger man looked at him blankly before noticing something from the balcony. He hastily ran down towards the basement as Shiori and the rest of them turned to see what was it that caught Tachibana's attention.   
  
"Kenzaki-san!"   
  
Amane suddenly shouted as she ran out to greet the man.   
  
xxx   
  
"Kenzaki-san!"   
  
Kenzaki looked up as a young girl ran up to him and embraced him at once. He chuckled as he immediately recognised the girl.   
  
"Amane-chan!" he started to say. "How you have grown..."   
  
Tsukasa stared at Kenzaki long as he noticed the man's expression changing. Yet, despite the man seemed saddened... there was no hint of tears.   
  
"Tsukasa! You're alright!"   
  
He looked up to see Natsumi and the others coming out to the balcony, alongside those other people who appeared to be Kenzaki's friends. He glanced towards Kenzaki as he and the girl pulled themselves apart.   
  
"Kenzaki idiot! Have you forgotten us all these times?" asked Amane as Kenzaki smiled weakly.   
  
"There's no way I could forget all of you—"   
  
"Kenzaki!" "Kenzaki-san!"   
  
Kenzaki snorted to himself as he looked up towards Tachibana, Mutsuki, Shiori and Kotarou. As his eyes set on Hajime, he smiled weakly.   
  
"Hi again... Hajime!" said Kenzaki as his voice shook. "The other day I haven't even had the chance to ask about you. You're doing okay... right, these past years?"   
  
Hajime grinned. "Of course, who did you think I am?"   
  
"Kenzaki!" Tachibana started to say. "Good to see you again."   
  
Kenzaki nodded as he turned to look at the rest of his friends. He sighed. "Well, I better go now," he said as his eyes met Hajime's again. He turned towards Amane.   
  
"Watch over Hajime for me, okay? And tell Kotarou to not drink milk too much, how old did he think he was already? And take care of yourself too."   
  
Kenzaki started to excuse himself as Amane grabbed his arm.   
  
"Amane-chan!" cried some people from the balcony as Kenzaki turned around. Amane looked miserable.   
  
"Why? Why must you leave? Last time... last time when Hajime-san disappeared, you said you'd bring him back. And he did. Hajime-san came back. But then you disappeared!" Amane started to cry. "Now that you just came back... you're leaving again!"   
  
Kenzaki smiled weakly at her before gently releasing her grip from his arm. Tachibana hastily ran down to Amane's side to keep her away.   
  
Tsukasa silently watched the scene in front of him as he tried to etch what he have seen and heard throughout the day into his memory. Few days ago, he have met with Kurenai Wataru. And shortly after that, he also met with Sakurai Yuuto... as well as Nogami Ryoutaro from the past. And even when his encounters with them had been brief, he could feel that their past, their stories... there was something more about them that was important; greater than his own.   
  
Even now, he felt the same about Kenzaki.   
  
Could this... what it truly meant, about him having no story? Even without his presence, these Kamen Riders who had existed before he became Decade; their stories could stand on their own. But for him, without them... his story had no meaning. No purpose. Compared to the other _stories_ , his was not as important.   
  
Before this, he thought that Kenzaki Kazuma was just another cold guy who hated his existence and only wanted to destroy him. But in truth, he was not... just that. It was similar to how he felt about young Wataru as compared to Kurenai Wataru. Kenzaki Kazuma was very different than the Kendate Kazuma that he knew.   
  
That cold person he thought Kazuma was, who slightly intimidated him before when King form had defeated him badly; in actuality was not the person he thought he was. Same as Kurenai Wataru, the words they have spoken to him before... all had an underlining message that he failed to understand. Yet even when he could barely grasp on the reasoning behind the actions of these other Kamen Riders—the ones from the original worlds—perhaps this time, he could finally understand it. Because, regardless of what action... or decision that they chose; all of them had a similar goal. To protect the ones important to them.   
  
Yet... that still leave another question. In these grand scheme of things, how did Narutaki fit in this? Earlier, Kivaara said that she only manipulated Narutaki for her own mission. But she never said anything if they were even allied with Narutaki. So how... who...?   
  
"Ken... zaki-san?" Tsukasa started to say before realising the man had already left. It seemed that while he was deep in his own thoughts, the man took his leave quietly. He sighed.   
  
Cheeky guys... these original Kamen Riders...   
  
"Tsukasa!" Natsumi started to call him as Tsukasa looked up. "Come inside already, the food gonna start getting cold."   
  
Well, guess he had to save that question for another guy...


	8. Full House ~ Reflection

" _I'm glad that you come alone, and not bringing along those other friends of yours..."  
  
Tsukasa had scoffed at that. "Nah, that's probably because your friend told them to not follow. Natsumi-tachi's not the type to listen to me about things."  
  
Kenzaki chuckled. "Hajime did... huh? As expected of him. I rather not have your other comrades be around while we have our talk."  
  
Tsukasa frowned. "And why is that? Is there something wrong with my friends?"  
  
"Not at all," said Kenzaki before smiling. "But I rather not have them asking needless questions to me. I have no intention to give them the answers they prefer not to hear."  
  
"What answer?" asked Tsukasa again as Kenzaki looked at him coldly.  
  
"The fact that they were also partially at fault for causing you to misunderstand the  **true** mission that you were supposed to do."  
  
Tsukasa gasped, as he suddenly found himself speechless. He hastily changed the topic.  
  
"That aside, how did... you know that I was coming? On that matter, I thought it was strange that Hajime seemed to know that you had arrive to get me. Did you know that I would arrive to this world?"  
  
The man shrugged. "There was no way I could predict your arrival to this world, but yes... I would be able to know if you did. As for Hajime, it's been a while since I last contacted him... or any of my old comrades. Even then, I still have my ways to contact. Undeads have that useful ability to enable them to communicate with each other after all. I don't even need to use my cell phone for that."  
  
"Undeads... hah!" Tsukasa snapped before looking at Kenzaki warily. "What did you mean—are you an Undead?"  
  
Kenzaki laughed suddenly. "Now this was amusing... I thought you should have at least recovered a bit more memory of my comrades' and my world by now. But I guess, you haven't... still. Even though you should have at least a bit of memory of this world and the others. Considering you've been here before."  
  
He unbuttoned his coat jacket before turning around towards Tsukasa. "I think you should be able to figure out  **what**  I am when you see this."  
  
Tsukasa stared at Kenzaki blankly as suddenly a peculiar belt materialized around his waist. He gasped.  
  
"Why... that was similar with Chalice's—! You're a Joker? Why on earth—?"  
  
Kenzaki smiled before waving the comment away idly. "It should come to you now... the fact that this world still existed peacefully, despite the existence of a Joker like me."  
  
Kenzaki was staring at him meaningfully as if expecting him to know the answer already. But how could—wait, that remind him... that picture back at the studio! As well as the other Rider...  
  
Tsukasa leered towards Kenzaki. "Was that Aikawa Hajime the  **original**  Joker?" The man smiled as Tsukasa got his answer. "Why? Why go that far?"  
  
Kenzaki stared at Tsukasa blankly.  
  
"Why are you so surprised? Hajime was my friend. Even if we could only confront and understand each other through battles, he was still someone important to me. There was no way I could ever seal him into just another trump card. Hajime is Hajime, the fact that he was an Undead and Joker did not change that."_   
  
xxx   
  
Tsukasa looked up again to see Yuusuke and the others having some nice chat with Kenzaki's old comrades as if that was the most normal thing to happen. And all they talked about were all the things of the past. When Blade and the others had been going around sealing the Undeads that had been set free.   
  
Tsukasa glanced towards Natsumi, as she seemed to have a nice talk with Haruka, the café owner. He sighed.   
  
He recalled what Kenzaki told him about Natsumi and the others. Perhaps... it was true that they were partially at fault. But he could not blame them, especially Natsumi. Natsumi had watched over him ever since he could remember, after all. To him, Natsumi was important. Not just because Natsumi had always believed in him. How could he place a blame on her, Yuusuke or even Daiki for making him believe for a moment that he was not the dreaded  _killer_  of the worlds everyone despised? Tsukasa felt his heart clenched.   
  
It was his fault. If he had not made himself endeared to these people, so much that they would want to protect him at all cost—at the expense of letting him continue mistaking the purpose of his journey and making the situation worsen—perhaps these important friends of his would not get hurt.   
Yuusuke would not have worn that painful look when he tried to force him to fight to the death. Natsumi would not have to face so much danger... and having to be the one who have to kill him. And Daiki...   
  
" _Only I should be allowed to defeat you..."_   
  
He could barely recall seeing a devastated Daiki who had begged him not to die.   
  
Honestly... how  _had_  he been able to get good comrades like  _them_ ? What did he do in the past actually to have Daiki so clingy about him?   
  
Perhaps it was better that he kept this from the others. Kenzaki was right. Knowing that they might as well had a hand on letting the destruction of the worlds to happen as it did, it would not sit well on them. No matter how they manage to turn all that into a good end for everyone... as well as himself. Well, that should not be hard. He was good at pretending that everything was okay.   
At least the good thing right now, he learnt the true reason Kenzaki Kazuma treated him coldly in the past. It felt good to know that the number of people who hated his guts was fewer than what he thought it was. That feeling of being a hated person, it was never a good feeling...   
  
xxx   
  
Tsukasa jumped as someone slapped his back.   
  
Daiki grinned as he sat beside him.   
  
"Idiot," he said as he poked Tsukasa's forehead. "What are you doing staring at the wall like some dumb depressed idiot? Did Mister King Form said something to you? You brooding around seemed to be an in thing for you lately..."   
  
"I was not depre _—_ !" he started to say as Tsukasa leered at Daiki. Nah... regardless of his earlier thoughts, he could not still suddenly become friendly with this guy yet. There was still that argument they had earlier...   
  
Tsukasa turned away from him. "I'm not talking to you just yet," he said before noticing the lump inside his coat pocket.   
  
"Oh... I almost forgot—" he said again before getting up from his chair. Daiki frowned as he was being ignored by Tsukasa. He glared at his back as Tsukasa walked up towards Amane.   
  
"Kenzaki told me to give this to you, Amane-chan. He said it had long been overdue."   
  
It was a strange message to give but seeing Amane's reaction, he could wager a guess. Kenzaki must have not kept in touch with the people here for a long time. Amane let out a loud cry. Tsukasa watched in amusement Amane started complaining about late gifts as her elders tried to reason with her.   
  
Tsukasa smiled as his thoughts wandered towards his own sister. It had been a while since he last seen Sayo. How had she been doing with her own travels?   
  
Come to think... when was the last time  _they_  had celebrated their birthdays together?   
  
Tsukasa hurriedly gave Hajime the letter Kenzaki gave him as the others started doing their own things. He sighed. It was also a while since he had spent time with people casually like this. Somehow it felt strange to him now. It seemed to be so long ago... that time when he had no idea about Decade or even of his own self, going around taking pictures that never seemed to want to let him capture. Seeing Amane and the others, he slightly felt envious.   
  
Tsukasa watched them curiously, before his eyes fell on Hajime. Amidst the cheerful banter the other people inside the café were having, the man silently pull himself away before finally opening the letter Tsukasa had passed on earlier. He noticed again that sad expression on Hajime's face as he recalled the things he had been told earlier.   
  
It started to become clear to him, just how big was Kenzaki's sacrifice as a Kamen Rider. That man did tell him that in this world, Joker played a critical role... and not just another powerful card. Unlike the Undeads of the other Blade world, the Undeads in this world were not just mere monsters that one needed to seal. The Undeads had the ability to affect this world... through their Battle Fight.   
Aikawa Hajime must have been very close to Kenzaki.   
  
He wondered what had happened in the past. Blade had refused to seal Joker, who had been fighting the Battle Fight as Chalice. Yet, the fate of the world depended on his choice. Instead of sacrificing his friend, Kenzaki sacrificed his own humanity to save the world and Joker. It sure made his conclusion to the previous Rider war—letting Natsumi stab him in the end _—_ seemed small.   
Suddenly Daiki shoved him to the side. "Aaah! So boring. And there wasn't even any treasure that I could steal from here," he moaned as sitting beside Tsukasa in exasperation. Tsukasa grinned.   
  
"No. There is at least an important treasure here in this place," he said as he watched Amane with Hajime, singing along to the melody played on his guitar. He turned smugly towards Daiki.   
  
"But that treasure was not something you could steal. It was not the type that could sit well on you anyway.."   
  
Daiki glanced towards him curiously. "Eeh? You started talking to me again now?" he asked as Tsukasa rolled his eyes at the thief. He shrugged before excusing himself to go to the balcony to watch the night sky.   
  
This Blade world turned out not too bad. It would be hard to want to leave here so soon. There seemed to still be things he needed to learn in this world.


End file.
